1msn.... "I own 2 million shares in this ..my out is 4.20 in 2027"
1msn, wow mate, that's impressive to say the least. Can I ask how you came to a valuation of 420p per share, or on current shares in issue, a M/Cap of £2.44Bln?
1msn, link enclosed below regarding S4 Capital largest shareholders according to Bloomberg terminal screenshot taken on 7/2/2024.
https://i.postimg.cc/QtzgWzcp/Capture.png
"well spending £2.7m cash on share buybacks out of a Q3 cash level of £137.7m is neither here nor there , and the fact they aren't spending more, could indicate they are battening down the hatches to preserve cash.... but at the same time want to say "well we did do a buy back as we suggested we would "
Pokerchips, with Net Debt expected to be close to £200m at year end 2023, has something to do with it. So IMO spending £2.7m on share buybacks now if management thinks that conditions are going to get worse would be irresponsible IMO.
Jo..... "If you look at the employee stock ownership plan, there has been a reduction of 6.81%. This could well be for to the massive reduction in numbers of employees in the last 5-6 months."
Yes thanks mate, not forgetting a director sold almost 2 million shares.
"Looking at those 2 tabs I see around 36% of the shares in insiders hands."
SMS has said previously that management own 40% of S4 Capital. Maybe its now dropped to 36%.
Redwineday..... "Looks like the Zedra holding is something to do with the S4 Employee Benefit trust which had a similar level of holding in Jan but on that latest screenshot has disappeared. On Zedras website the say they specialise in corporate trusts, so I guess there has been no actual ownership change (also no TR1). Probabaly some trust restructuring/tax whatever."
Redwineday, thanks for the above reply mate, I did wonder if there was some name change that would explain all. Cheers.
Going by the Bloomberg terminal screenshots, comparing Jan 2024 & Feb 2024 In Jan's post Zedra Trust Co Guernsey Ltd wasn't in the top 40 largest shareholders. In Feb's post they have jumped up to S4's second largest shareholder with 52,266,273 shares 8.98%. Just looked up Zedra Trust Co Guernsey Ltd and they were acquired by private equity firm Corsair Capital in 2018. Interesting.
Just taking a look at Franklin Resources S4 Capital shareholding going back to Q2 of 2023 they owned 21,359,214 shares today they own 67,002,139 shares. Making them the largest shareholder with 11.5% of the company. They have more than trebled their holding within 8 months. Maybe they are acquiring on behalf of someone, I don't know, or they just see value.
I forgot to mention that there was a few trades the previous day one trade was for 96k that also wasn't reported as a share buy back. If I had to guess who the acquirer is my money would be on Franklin Resources who have been S4's largest buyer since Q3.
HorisM, I'm not sure I would agree regarding large purchases will be share buy backs. If you were to look at yesterdays large trades of 75,000 & 280,200 both trades were reported as buys. Now look at today's RNS regarding share buy backs and you will see that S4 wasn't the acquirer of these large trades. I would say that this is good news in that it shows that someone is buying.
"Personally I would love to see a takeover by WPP. Martin Sorrell is old and no longer relevant to the world and if he cant get S4 more north between now and April then its better he is removed and put out to pasture."
I would say be careful what you wish for. SMS has a lot of contacts, he attracts business from the largest companies in the world. Without him would S4 lose clients? Who could do a better job, who has the knowledge that he's gained over the years?
Sir Martin Sorrell Discusses the Global Complexities of 2024 & the Realities Facing the Ad Industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIG9R57ebyU
Courtesy of a ADVFN poster. Screenshot taken from Bloomberg terminal.
https://i.postimg.cc/QtzgWzcp/Capture.png